TravelStream™ news feed for member vicky864 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/vicky864 en-us Copyright ©2010 TravelPod.com Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:55:14 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky864/1/1231256340/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky864/1/1231256340/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky864/1/1231256340/tpod.html Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:55:14 -0500 I've got 24 hours to go....

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Beijing, China

Well after a christmas day spent in an airport and plane delays i finally got into china in the dead of night, circled by dodgy fake taxi drivers i fumbled my way into the cold. Freezing, minus 6 i believe. After climbing into the most unprofessional ramshackle looking taxi i soon was dropped off at the Hutong my hostel was down. Hutong is a tiny pitch black alley and with the taxi driver and a bunch of locals circling i fearfully made my way down although thankfully i was soon at my hostel and not in an early grave. 
Anyway  got inside to the dead end of a christmas party and rinsed from delays and stuff went straight to bed. 
Got up and over a coffee and my lonely planet i got chatting to an aussie guy and alas my travel pal for my last stop was born. We headed out to wander the tiny back alleys, which incidentally are not remotely terrifying in the day light!!
So we checked out the alleys, the local delicacies of squid on a stick, i personally stuck to mushroom and courgette. But it was all good, we found a park which we headed into and wandered around the huge lake that was frozen solid! It was filled with stunning buildings, temples and statues. We wandered aimlessly and heard a distant singing so after some climbing over some rocks and through a old building we found and choir practicing and we stood and listened silently. It was beautiful and very impressive. 
We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the park and checking out all the hidden buildings and the incredible artwork on them before taking to the hutongs and finding a restaraunt where the cutest little waitress patiently waited whilst in horrifically broken mandarin we ordered food. Good old tofu, it saved me! 
Next day we were up at the crack of dawn for a day trip to the ming tombs and the great wall. All i have to say about ming tombs is - don't bother, they were shit, easily the most unimpressive thing i've ever seen. The great wall however was incredible. There isn't enough phrases to use to communicate just how incredible it was! Completely,  breathtaking. I know it sounds dumb but it is so huge! Anyway after standing in awe for a little while we started u the slope, the the stairs then the steepest hill in the world. It was quite funny everyone was completely knackered but was grinning all the way!! We hiked up to a pretty high point and took in the view. About 100 photos later we hiked a bit further up and again stopped to catch our breath. It was about this time some lady stopped me and asked for a photo with me cause I'm pretty much blonde now, which was actually very amusing!! 
We took like no time to walk down but i took us forever to get up the relentless hills! It really was mind blowingly beautiful! 
That evening getting back to beijing we headed to Tiannamen square and by pure luck got there about a minute before the flag lowering ceremony began! It was amazing the soldiers are so regimented and such perfectionists there is not so much as a sign of a mistake! The flag comes down exactly as the sun sets! Now that is impressive! 
Next came my favourite activity, shopping! We ventured to a flea market that was filled with stall after stall of the most incredible things you've ever seen, everything from jewelry to opium pipes!! It was immense, my bargaining skills were frankly brazen, i offered one guy such a low price he was offended! haha! Anyway after some hard bargaining i got what i wanted super cheap and he was happy, and so carried on the rest of the day! And at the end of the day, freezing cold and laden with bags we returned to our hostel before venturing out for a lovely dinner and returned to our hostel with a stick of caramalised strawberries! yummy!
I was by this time dying from the flu and freezing half to death, drinking beer was the only way to warm up, everyone in my hostel was litterally indoors in coats sneezing and freezing! I phoned qantas and they kindly agreed to bump my flight so  i could go home early! I did however have 3 more things i wanted to do so i dragged myself out of bed and braved my last day of minus figure temperatures and headed to the Taoist white cloud temple, which was really cool as the people praying take offerings of insense and burn it in the huge stoves, so the temples look like they are enveloped in a white cloud! Beautiful smell everywhere too, the monks live here so i saw many of them wandering around, with their hair in topknots and in their traditional dress!
After that i went to a traditional garden which is a replica of a garden in a famous chinese novel, unfortunately because it was the dead of winter the plants were not up to much but the frozen lakes, stunning artwork on the buildings and the stone statues were beautiful!
By this time i have to say i was feeling awful, it was baltic, easily the coldest it had been the whole time i'd been there! I headed to the enormous grounds that held the temple of heaven, i made my way against the howling wind and headed first to the harvest temple which was the most incredibly painted building, and then through the huge grassy grounds to the temple of heaven which is miraculously a circular building, which has no nails or cement or glue it just holds itself up!! Insane, and again this building is beautiful! The most incredible paint work and interior! 
It was a very busy but good last day and after that i pretty much crawled home and got into bed wishing for any type of relief from my flu! And after an evening of chatting with group of super friendly people i was lucky enough to meet in china i was ready for a bag packing session and a sleep. So the next day i headed back to the airport, managed to bag a seat with extra legroom and sat there watching films and films and drinking so much orange juice it wasn't true. I didn't sleep a wink the whole 11 hours cause i could'nt stop sneezing and was soon back in dear old blighty to be welcomed back by a lovely baggage man who went and found my missing bag that had fallen into the works of terminal fives baggage system!! He found it god love him and wished me a happy new year, so for the night i stayed in london, and slept and slept and slept and then got up super early to hit the road one final time to go to gatwick and aboard the final plane home, and believe me 45 minutes isn't enough time to even get comfortable!! And so alas i am home... now what to do?!
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Tokyo, Kanto, Japan

Having been up really early everyday i layed in deciding to make the most of the lights for one evening so headed out much later to a temple called Sesno Ji, which was beautiful and breathtaking. I saw it from afar after spotting the 5 storied pagoda from the street and made my way past the buddha statues before passing through Thunder Gate past two towering statues of Fuijin the God of Wind and Raijin the God of Thunder. And let me tell you, you would not want to feel their wrath, incredibly cool but equally ferocious!
So through the gate the temple was alight with colour and as i approached i could hear the gentle hum of singing as two people stood at the gates praying whilst others tossed coins to the offering box before clapping and bowing at the shrine. 
It was pouring with rain but it could not possibly detract from the amazing beauty of this place, the paper lanterns were massive and bright, whilst the bases were laden with traditional japanese art and then metal lanterns with intricate golden patterns adorning them. Whilst the shere scale of the shrine, the entrance gate and all that surrounded it just made most places i'd seen pale in comparison.
I soon retreated from the freezing rain and wind and left back to my hostel for a night of chilling and watching films!
Next day was the Emporers birthday, now i was advised by the Tokyo tourist board that everything to do with the palace and it's gardens were shut, i however did not believe them, lonely planet told me different. So i headed down to find throngs of people moving in and around the palace, locals who had seen the Emporer speak clutched japanese flags as i joined the crowds crossing over the mote and through the gate that allowed us past the huge stone walls that flank the palace to sign the birthday greetings book and then entered into the vast gardens where i was lucky enough to find early cherry blossoms blooming. They were stunning and my new camera got out to some serious use! So i strolled across the huge lawn to the stone ruins of a tower that used to be part of the palace and then along the winding paths thrugh the bamboo gardens the rose gardens, up to an old battle defence base, and back up to the main gardens where i saw bonsai trees, lakes, small waterfalls traditional japanese stone garden ornaments, koi fish swimming in ponds and looked out over the gardens into the city. 
It was beautiful, tens of traditional japanese buildings were dotted around so i took in the detail of those as i headed back to the main gate and into the busy streets. 
Next after a trip via Akihabara for some touristy purchasing i headed to Shibuya, something i could never have been prepared for. The scale of the building, the brightness of the lights, the noise, the thousands upon thousands of people and of course the world famous 8 way pedestrian crossing! 
I rushed along the streets in the busy crowds collecting free packs of tissues like they were going out of fashion whilst exploring huge stores, taking in the unbelievably busy crossing, and of course crossing it a few times.
It was a complete sensory overload. Music blasting from every shop, hundreds of shop workers with loud speakers, cars buses and hummers lined with TV's thousands of japanese christmas shopping it was pretty intense but i have to say i kinda enjoyed the madness! It was a definite experience of japanese consumer culture! 
My last day was spent wondering around Ginza, hanging out in Hibyia park watching the koi swim peacefully and exploring the tiny side streets. Not before partying on Christmas eve by dancing to DJ's whose main music base comes from old nintendo games that they then add beats baselines and crazy mixes. Oh and they dance, completely out of time, but who cares they are loving it and so are we. It was pretty cool we drank sake, danced and did this weird thing where you all plug into a big headphone point and dance without pulling your headphones out in very close quarters!!

All in all Japan is without a doubt one of the coolest places on earth. Intense busy but amazingly cool!
Oh and the people are so sweet i wanna get their respect and friendliness and bottle it! The world could do with a dose of these mega polite people! 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky864/1/1230173280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky864/1/1230173280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky864/1/1230173280/tpod.html Wed, 24 Dec 2008 22:28:00 -0500 I've got 24 hours to go....

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Tokyo, Kanto, Japan

Well i arrived in Tokyo in pretty good shape after having all 3 seats to myself so i watched the dark knight and slept! Met a girl on my plane who was at the same hostel as me which was bizarre luck so we got off the plane made our way through customs with pointing and much basic japanese and miraculously found our way to the train and hostel without a problem. Well apart from being stared at by everyone!!
So we checked in and made our beds in our capsule beds and then got set for a short burst of Tokyo culture by heading to Shinjuku, which is full of bright lights drunk business men, more lights and so many people!! 
It was pretty cool taster really we just wandered around although this night would prove to me how difficult it was going to be for the rest of my trip with regards to finding Vegi food!
Anyway so we were knackered after a few hours in the crazy chaos and decided to head home and attempt to navigate the insanely complicated subway system. Seriously i can honestly say of all the tube systems i've used this one was the most complex, although after a couple of days i had it nailed! 
So the next day i headed to Akihabara the electrical district for a full on assault of all my senses and without a doubt the coolest shop i will ever set foot in. Giant screens advertising stuff thousands of people christmas shopping, sales clerks with loud speakers and flashing lights, oh and japanese christmas music!! 
I really just wandered about the place all day checking out the shops the tiny little alleyways and witnessed all the lights and crazyness! Headed back to Shinjuku that evening as my camera had broken in Oz i was now fully equipped with a lovely new one and ready to take photos!! 

Next day i went to Ueno park, dodged the homeless people, visited cool little temples got sexually harrassed by a skanky old man who offered to take my photo and when gave my camera back found it necessary to rub my hands and try to drag me to 'somewhere special' I'll risk giving it a miss. Shook him off with the news my mate was waiting for me and he was gone! Anyway looked at more temples - the names escape me right now and all of the beautiful plaques filled with peoples wishes on and the paper pieces tied in knots also filled with wishes and prayers. 
I took a walk through the park taking in the cool little streams and small traditional buildings dotted about before spending the afternoon in the Tokyo National Museum seeing everything from Kimono's, screen paintings, samurai swords, and war suits to opium pipes statues and vases! It was pretty immense actually! Thier art is something i've loved for a long time so to see all this really did make a big impression!
Sunday it was time to be stuck with Gwen Stefani in my head as i headed to Harajuka to see the Harajuka girls. So on sundays they have 'play gangs' where all the kids who are bullied at school dress up in insane outfits and hang out in their fantasy world. A kind of tragic underlay to a very cool thing to witness! So i strolled the crazy busy streets befriended a random turkish kebab shop owner who offered me free food and drink for the duration of my trip spoke to some people who were eating and explored the cramped but cool teenybopper shops before finding the bridge filled with kids dressed as goths, blood stained doctors, little bo peep, and ninja assasins! Very cool. 
Very close to hear is a temple called Meiji Jingu so i headed through the Towering wooden entrance and through to the path lined with trees, along a pathway flanked with japanese paper lamps and caskets of wine given in offering to the temple and finally approached the temple itself, after passing the shrine where everyone purifies themselves by rinsing their hands and mouth in the water,  i was lucky enough to see a wedding procession with the women in traditional kimonos. 
After this i watched the monks wander about the temple whilst the visitors made offering before clapping twice bowing twice and clapping again. It was all very graceful, beautiful and fascinating. The architecture of the temples is amazing, so much work and detail has gone into them, they were super impressive and very beautifully decorated and layed out. So after that i once again strolled through the park, back through the throng of bizarrely dressed kids and headed home, ut not before finding and elvis impersonating Japanese man, for some reason this made me super super happy! Long live the king!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky864/1/1229761620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky864/1/1229761620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky864/1/1229761620/tpod.html Sat, 20 Dec 2008 08:55:10 -0500 I've got 24 hours to go....

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Whitsunday Islands, Queensland, Australia

Well after leaving 1770 and going on a nightbus i arrived in Airlise Beach. A drinking town with a sailing problem i would later be told!
Anyway it was boiling like unbearable so i snoozed under a tree  in the shade, until a bloody great bit of fruit fell out the tree and hit me clean on the head! I'm sure to witness it was very funny but to me, well ow in a word!
Anyway not much going on there, well there is if you want an 18-30's party but i wasn't bothered it was all about the boat the next day! 
So off we went on a walk to the boat box of goon in hand and ready for our adventure. Got chatting to people who were waiting and soon we were on the boat, the view from the marina was nice, however the view from the marina to the boat was even better. I think i may have found Australia's sexiest man! No really! I was distracted from the first second until well the end of the trip!
Anyway we set sail and everyone hung about and just chatted. The sea was really quite rough so a few people were a bit green to say the least but we were on our way and not long after we hit calmer waters and were soon being shown to or cabins and settling into life at sea, which by the way i liked a lot. There was something just wonderful about floating through the sea, relaxing in the sun but being cooled by the breeze! Wonderful!!
That afternoon we were climbing down the ladder on the side of the boat into a dingy to go snorkeling which was really cool again, kinda loving it actually, but i'm sure it has a lot to do with the very warm very clear water and of course the amazing things in it! So after that we spent the evening on the boat with the skipper giving us a geography lesson and a small storm going past a wonderful dinner and a few plastic mug fulls of wine and some drooling it was time to retreat below deck for a night of very little sleep!
Next morning we set sail about 7 and headed towards Whitsunday Island to go to Whitehaven beach - the 3rd best beach in the world apparently. All i know is job it is to rate them, well i want it!!whoevers
Anyway after a little dinghy across and a short walk we were at the look out over the beach and my god it was truly spectacular, these vast drifts of sand appearing and disappearing amongst the crystal shimmering blue waters! After pictures and stuff we were soon off down the walkway and onto the soft white sands! Our sexy crew member took us to a secret little beach he knew so we had it pretty much to ourselves which was bliss so we floated about in the waters and laid in the sun trying not to burn, as this place is triple burn beach!
After a few hours there it was back to the boat for lunch, more snorkeling in the afternoon and lulling around enjoying the weather and the fresh air! We saw a lot more fish in the afternoon, mainly because the bloke was throwing fish food where we were snorkeling so we literally were swarmed with hundreds of them and it was incredible! There was the coolest one i've ever seen all iradicent purple and green about a foot long just bobbing abut munching on coral below us, huge schools of them swimming together and well you get the picture it was class!
The evening was really good, by this time we had realized that half of the boat wee idiots, either rough and thick english, drunken dutch, or prissy french, there were however a really nice english girl and a really nice irish girl so us three and the crew sat in the paddling pool that they had thoughtfully installed on board and drank boxed wine until we were not sure if if was us or the boat that was swaying!
Anyway it was a really good night and i was advised that sleeping outside was a much better idea as it was cooler so roll mats and sheets sorted and i sat down to lay down and all but knocked myself out on the wooden bench around the edge of the boat! I literally didn't know where i was, and then i got concussion, it was absolutely no fun! Never mind i was well looked after and was after about an hour i was out for the count.
Next morning we had to head back to Airlise beach and as i was now a bit of a dab hand at the steering after striking up a friendship with the skipper he left me in charge whilst he climbed up ropes and did whatever he does, when he took over i was off doing bits of rope pulling with the lovely deckhand, i took to it all quite well if i do say so myself. I could've happily stayed there to be honest, i loved the boat and had a great time, seeing some amazing fish, beautiful sunsets and amazing beaches!
That was really my last thing in oz, i headed to townsville that afternoon spent the evening and morning there before heading up to the airport to fly back down to Brisbane and alas soon it will be Konichiwa Tokyo!
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Agnes Water, Queensland, Australia

Well after another trip on the bus i arrived at 1770 or Agnes Water in the evening and found the greatest nicest and cleanest hostel i have ever stayed in! Unbelievable! In a good way. 
Anyway that evening a few people that were in my room and me made dinner and hung out in the tropical gardens of the hostel and had some beer.
Next morning, i wandered across the street and climbed in a rickety old van before boarding a old fishing trawler. I wasn't going mad, no but heading for a day in the Great Barrier Reef. 
I was soon to learn there is a reason it's go the word Great at the start. Anyway so two hours bombing it out on the boat across the bluest waters and seeing the point that Captain Cook first set foot on Australia was to be honest good enough on it's own but we eventually began to approach a place called Hoskins Island a tropical paradise that you i sort of wished i could get shipwrecked on with Captain Jack Sparrow and a case of rum!
Anyway we were soon armed with snorkels and fins and sliding off the boat into the sea to snorkel along the reef. Ducking your head under the water was amazing! The stuff down there. It truly is another world.
The corals were all sorts of shapes and colours that you could imagine. We snorkeled amongst the array of amazing and at time really big fish!! Then we got back on the boat for a while and moved to the other side of the island for more snorkelling. We did however spot a mantary swimming nearby so most of us got our gear back on and swam with it. It was immense, this huge fish gliding through the water below us and us being so close to it. It was so graceful. 
There were plenty of yellow, orange, purple, green, black, white and all sorts of coloured fish, along with lots of sea turtles! 
There was however something else, oh yes a shark, only a reef shark so you know it's not gonna bite my leg off and leave me to die like poor Jill in Baywatch. Although when i spotted it my initial reaction was one of terror i did find myself swimming towards it, very bizarre but it was seriously cool!
My waterproof camera of course decided to break at the worst time possible but you know it's on of those things, spending hours in the water with all that amazing wildlife we boarded back onto the boat for an on deck barby and a few drinks as we watched the sun set and then as the moon came up we cruised back to 1770.
The next day i just lulled about in the sun and really didn't do alot, just read, snoozed in a hammock and then got on board the lovely Greyhound for a very long all nighter to my next town!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky864/1/1228863480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky864/1/1228863480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky864/1/1228863480/tpod.html Thu, 11 Dec 2008 23:15:14 -0500 I've got 24 hours to go....

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Fraser Island, Queensland, Australia

Well i stopped off in Hervey BAy for a night but only so i could go to Fraser Isand the one place hat every single person i've met has told me i HAVE to go!
So i obliged and got up bright and breezy beofre gettig to the jetty and boarding a boat across to Fraser Island which had been described to me as the most beautiful place on earth.

So we arrived and met our driver man who looked like a safari leader gone wrong!! haha he was class though so it was ok!

Our first part of the trip was to get on board our 4 wheel drive and get set to be chucked about as we went over the amd sand that the entire island is made up of, and through the rollercoaster- a pathway to get into the island, which left you off your seat most fo the time it was so bumpy@ this of course jjust had us all in fits of laughter!

Our first stop was to go to pile valley this huge lush subtropical rainforest and alk thorough the canopys of trees which gave us much needed shade, there were all these massive eucalyptas trees and a small creek called Wanggoolba Creek which trickled through the forest, on it's sand floor, and it was the clearest water you have ever seen in your life!!


The highlight of the day hoever wwas to go to Lake Mackenzie.
No you know when you go to a travel agent and you see those pictures of aqua marine water with white sands, well that is lake mackenzie, we got down to the beach that surrounds it and marvelled at the blues of the water as it stretched out in front of our eyes!

This of course made us want to jump in and we did. Our afternoon was spent lazing in the glorious clean waters that were so clear you can see below you for metres!!

The ater is also really good for your skin so you leave feeling like you have the best slaon treatment ever

We spent ages in there throwing around frisbees and swimming or floating or jsut soaking up the sun as you layed on the shore of the white snads with the water lapping around you and the sun in the sky!! It truly was paradise!

That first day went by so quickly it was sad but we that evening got a few drinks in us and partied before getting set for the next day.

Wegot up and got ready to wrestle with the mad sand again, today was our 75 mile beach day and we set of on a day of racing the tide, we had a lot to do and see and we had to do it ASAP , if we didn;'t get back before the tide came in, well we didn't get back.

We pounded along the sand, the van wobbling a fiar few times along the way as the sand gave way below the wheels!! It was immense to pound along the sand with the sea brekaing beside us. Then out of nowhere a large object came to view in the distance and it was the Maheno Shipwreck so we stopped and climbed out onto the wet sand and investigated.

I can honestly say i never expected it to be that cool It was monumental! This huge wreck just wedged intot he sand, the ater all around it, the waves crashing through where the doors and windows once were! It as co cool to just wander around and check it out!

I couldv'e stayed forever, it was so facinating to see!!

We then set off, more wrestling with the sand before we got to the pinnicles, a snad dune with layers of multi coloured sands, very impressive, and a bit mad to see those colour changes!

next we hit the 'road' again and made our way up to the champagne pools, sounds promising!!

It was these huge rock pools that filled with bubbles evertime the sea broke behind then! Unfortunately the rain joined the bubbles so whilst most of us hid in the shelter the boys dived into the oncoming waves and bodysurfed in!!

I also saw a handsized spider, and although it was dead i was still scared!!

We stopped off to hike up Indian Head, atly named by Captain Cook when he saw aborginals on the cliff edge watching his boat approach. We got to the top and it gave siome breathtaking view of the vast beach stretching in either direction and of the sea crashing a few hundred feet below. A few sea turtles swa m about!

We then raced the tide and hit the beach and well the van very nearly went a few times, the sand had tekn its fair share of wheels that day and was worse the wear!

Anyway we made it to eli creek a small flow of waer from the forest down to the sea where you can float down in sheer bliss or stroll the baordwalk admiring the snakes in the trees, well trousersnakes... you really have to see the picture to understand!!

And that was us for the day! We hit the drink and listened to th cheesiest music possible and well it got a bit messy

The next day there were many sore heads and frowns as w recllaed our mission for today... hike tw hours in the searing heat over loose sand. We chose not to accept it, instead we went back to lake mackenzie to laze on body boards in the gloriosu sun, lay on the white sands and swim ni the cooling waters!!

It was paradise in ever sense of the word, plus we got to see Dingos! The little dog like creatures that descended from the asian wolf who live wild on the island!!

We got to see a sand blow later in the day, this massive desert like area that has just anhilated all the trees and taken over a huge part of the land.

That afternoon we had a hard hard time, we went to lake birabeen, a huge lake, surrounded by rainforest, again ith crystal clear waters and swam all afternoon before a little sunbathing to dry off!

The place was deserted, we had us and us onl;y in this huge lake, man i never wantd to leave.

Sadly though this was our last stop and we had to head away and back to reality, but still that was the most incredibly beautiful place i am ever likely to go in my life and if ever you get chance, go!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky864/1/1228544580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky864/1/1228544580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicky864/1/1228544580/tpod.html Sat, 06 Dec 2008 01:58:50 -0500 I've got 24 hours to go....

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Noosa, Queensland, Australia

Well i arrived in Noosa, driving in you could see it was gorgeous, stunning water areas with house on the beach. boats everywhere, obviously a money place! My hostel was lovely, really beautiful setting and there were stunning paintings and statues all around!
Plus point it was full of really lovely people and when a giant storms blew in and it poured of rain we all sat under cover ingiant comfy chairs in the warm chatting and talking!
A few hours had soon passed and it was an early night for everyone!
Next morning i was up early and to my pleasant surprise so was everyone who i'd met the night before it turned out we were all on our way to the zoo, Steve Irwins zoo no less, so we headed to town piled on a big double decker and drove in the gorgeous AC.
My god it's hot!
Anyway we headed in and walked about, seeing the alligators the giant tortoise, the koalas and then we all got to cuddle one, it was SO cute, thoughts rushed through me of stealing it but i was content with the zoo keeped letting me hold it longer cause he snuggled up into my shoulder and seemed to be very happy there!! 
Anyway not long afterwards we headed to the crocoseum, where they do the croc show, it was cool to see the big giant beast! They are immense shame steve's not about anymore cause i think the show would have been better with him but still!
We then wandered further around seeing all the marsupials - yes i learned something- mainly the kangaroos which are a lot like dogs cause they lay about and let you stroke them, only hopping when they can be bothered, cause it's so hot!!
Emu's elephants birds and snakes followed before we went to see the tigers! They were stunning and because they've been hand reared since birth the keepers can be in the pen and play games with them getting them to chase toys and swim and jump in the water and swim with them. It was one of the coolest things i've seena dn the tigers looked so happy and so cared for it was really cool!
We then headed back to the beautiful elephants just in time to had feed them fruit, their big slobbery trunks take it right out of your hand and man they are beautiful!! 
It was a really great day and i'm so pleased i got to go even if i didn't get to keep my koala!!
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Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Well before i got to Oz everyone told me, don't stop too long in Brisbane, and to be fair i don't have a lot of time but i liked it!
It was a cool city, although it was bloody hot! Humid as hell, the sort of you cannot do anything quickly humid!
Anyway i stopped really to pick up my passport from STA but cause they are all but useless they didn't have it, alas it is now safe and well and awaiting me upon my arrival in my next hostel! Lets see if china have let me in eh!
Well anyway brisbane, not a lot to report, cool buildings, a lot of cool architecture, a gorgeous riverside to stroll along with an all important breeze.
lots of nice grassy areas to hang out in, just generally very nice, lots of cit workers, i'm guessing this is the office job capital!!
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Nimbin, New South Wales, Australia

So i got up and headed onto a bus called Jim's tours, jim picks you up drives you to Nimbin. But before we go anywhere we get a talk, basically today we get as ruined as possible, oh yes thats right, ruined! So within half an hour of being on the road we're a t a pub, eating macadamia nuts, drinking beer, and ready to hit the road again.
I will say one thing for jim, the guy has amazing musical taste, the whole thing is set to music, we hear about towns and stories about them, one school in a town apparently is a bit dodgy - run by nuns and monks, you get the drift anyway so another brick in the wall ala pink plloyd blasted out and told the kids that they didn't need no education. Very funny! We arrived in nimbin, a hippy town, full of hippies, dreadlocks and stoned people everywhere! 
Anyway we didn't spend long there but lets just say theoretically that if ever you want to see people who can't talk properly sell you drugs, or for that matter eat cake that lives underneath a house untill it's sold or cookies that live in trees, then well there is your place! 
Oh and by the way lots of the people there have dreads and smell but are actually very lovely!
Anyway we left there and went to a guys house, i call it a house more of a wooden shack with a rickety bed outside a few books indoors and a mezzanine for chilling. His house was on a little lake though and whilst smoking his pipe he promptly got naked and jumped in, a few people followed, not naked though that was only him.
He was described as crazy but to be honest i thought he was lovely, so he lives in the middle of nowhere with nothing and he's more than happy, he was really clever and i had a really good chat with home about the world and how george bush has pretty much induced the collapse of civilization and then he took us on a our of the grounds. 
By this time all on the bus were not quite on the planet!
Anyway it got weird as we walked through the gorgeous tropical plants which this guy has hand planted we started to find mannequins dressed up standing at windows or derelict buildings, mannequin heads lodged in trees and toy dolls in sexual positions everywhere! Let me tell you it was fucking weird!! He was lovely though nice guy, just very 'out there'

We headed back to nimbin via a rainforest walk a view of a waterfall and a lookout point over miles and miles of forest which was stunning actually! It was a really cool day!
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Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia

Byron Bay a place where young and old walk down the street barefoot, with nothing more than boardies and a board, or if you stay where i did a bunch of wannabe stinking hippies with bad attitudes and lots of magic mushrooms. Now i'm all for do what you want but this hostel, well you can openly take magic mushrooms but if you want coffee with skimmed milk you are not allowed to buy chocolate! Great, here's to freedom. The hostel was set in a nice place though, in the bush with a creek directly behind it so you could laze in hammocks in the sun.
Giant lizards ran around the grounds along with turkeys and other things but it was all good, i wandered the town and witnessed more barefoot people than i ever though possible, then in the evening watched a 'talent show' - canadians trying to rap... wooppee- effing- do!
The highlight however was what can only be described as one of the coolest things i've ever seen, the moon and 2 planets formed a smiley face, and it was REALLY cool!!
Anyway that aside i spent most of my time at the beach, doing waht you do on beaches lazing around, reading, getting a tan and eating the odd ice cream! It was stunning the sea was glorious and surfers trawled in and out all day as did everyone really. 
The people in the town were lovely nice and friendly and a few drinks in a bar and a chat to some nice girls at my hostel - equally appalled and that was that a quiet and unproductive few days, but well you know, i'm on holiday!!
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